Federal Colonial farmhouse renovation in beautiful Vermont

Demo Day in the Kitchen

We are officially under way on our kitchen renovation. This past Friday/Saturday was demolition day at the house. In a few hours everything was out of the Kitchen. It was so satisfying to get rid of all the old chipboard cabinets and countertops. Over the years the mice had made this kitchen their home. There was evidence of them everywhere – we were always wondering what the “smell” was in the kitchen.

We decided to remove the cabinets in tact in case someone else wanted them – one person’s trash is another’s treasure (hmm). And sure enough as we were about to throw them in the dumpster a local stopped by asking if he could take them. He took most of them for re-use, along with the old stainless sink!

There is no turning back now – a couple of months of construction and inconvenience will be so worth it.

Partial demo of kitchen cabinets – uppers are downCabinets piled up on porch – finally out of the house!Kitchen is gutted

History

In the fall of 2013 we embarked on a joint family venture of owning a rural antique colonial in Vermont as a family get away and vacation home. After looking at only 3 other homes we all agreed that this house had the most potential and truly was a diamond in the rough.

The house has so much history and character. It is a classic Federal-style Farmhouse Colonial, built by hand with traditional post and beam construction in 1786. It once served as an inn and a tavern. A back addition was added in the early 1800's and was the community's meeting house for many years. We are only the 3rd family to own this house in over 225 years.

The house was vacant since 2006 and had not been updated in over 30 years. That did not deter us and we felt that with all of our joint effort and skills we could not pass this opportunity up.

In the months since, we have completed some major renovations and the work keeps continuing. This blog is intended as a journal of our progress and outcomes. I hope you enjoy it.